The present invention relates to an arrangement for coupling pallets of a travelator or equivalent.
Like escalators, travelators are conveying devices used to move people and goods. They differ from escalators e.g. in that they often work in a substantially horizontal position or in a position slightly inclined relative to their direction of motion, so that successive steps, i.e. pallets, form a substantially even and rectilinear transport track instead of stair-like steps as in escalators. Travelators are also referred to as moving sidewalks and autowalks.
In known travelators, autoramps and escalators, the pallets or steps are typically connected to an endless chain, belt or equivalent serving as a drive element by means of a separate coupling element. In known solutions, the coupling arrangements are complicated and often also require the use of special tools for the coupling to be successfully performed in the desired manner. Long travelators contain a large number of pallets, each one of which has to be coupled to the drive element either by one end or by both ends. These known coupling solutions and the associated adjustments are slow and complicated to implement, which is why the installation times are very long, especially when long travelators are to be installed. This is expensive and otherwise undesirable. In addition, maintenance and repair operations take a longer time because the release and re-mounting of known coupling elements is a slow process. Coupling elements of a larger size, which take up space around their path of motion and add to the weight of the structures present further problems. An additional problem in known coupling elements is the chain serving as a drive element, which has to be of a special construction due to the coupling. Such a chain, which is specific only to a given application, is generally expensive and may be difficult to obtain in urgent cases of repair.